First choice Sneijder has apparently set a transfer deadline himself telling clubs who want him they have until August 14 to get him!! He told Novum TV 'I am not a guy who will miss games on purpose so that I can leave Ajax until August 31. I can tell you that when I play those games I will stay with Ajax no matter what.'

The Daily Star this morning claim that Martin O'Neill is after £8million rated Manchester United striker Alan Smith who polled above with a massive 1%! A poster called Cropped posted this on our site earlier backing up the Star's claims: I live in South Manchester. I drink in the pubs where people connected with United and City drink. Last nights topic which might interest you was of Alan Smith moving to Villa. Beer talk but from those who have an ear to the ground. The word was also that he is not the same player. Caveat Emptor Premiership managers... If only I knew what Caveat Emptor Prem meant I'd be laughing.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, third choice in the poll with 17%, according to the Express and Star, is not for sale.

The Independent are claiming that Charlton have slashed the price they want for 28-year old England International Luke Young (3%) quoting £2.7 million. Young signed a four year deal with the Addicks last season but now they are relegated, he wants to leave. There's loyalty for you! Alan Pardew said: We've had a few phone calls about Luke. I've got a lot of time and respect for Luke and I appreciate where he is in his career. If a decent club comes in and I thought the fee was right I'd let him go. I've obviously brought in a replacement already in Yassin Moutaouakil, who I feel is going to give real competition to Luke whether he stays or not.' Boro, Newcastle and Manchester City are also believed to be interested. At that price I should think a lot more will also have an interest.

In other news, Villa miss-fit and former Manchester United midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba is apparently about to go on a season long loan to Lille. The report says that Villa will have to pay half of Jumper Jumpers wages. One report last month suggested he had been made a free agent and was looking for a club. Guess until it is announced on the official site, your guess is as good as mine on that one, if you care that is!

Oh, and some reports suggest we are after Spurs defender Anthony Gardener for about £3million. I'd stick with Cahill and Ridgewell over Gardener any day of the week, from the comments the Spurs fans leave on Vital Spurs, I get the feeling they would personally drive the player up to Villa Park to get shot!

Gareth Barry says in Sporting Life that he was surprised when Villa sold Gavin McCann: 'It was a big surprise when Gavin left the club a few weeks ago. He certainly did a great job for us over the last four years. But we've got an automatic replacement in Nigel. I'm sure he can step into Gavin's place and hopefully improve us along with the other players who will be coming in. 'He was captain at West Ham and you need lads who can be vocal out of the pitch, and in reality you need 11 leaders. I'm sure Nigel will be bringing those leadership skills into the squad.'

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Caveat Emptor-"Let the buyer be ware".Either way the time is now ticking, with a standoff in meeting club valuations etc..I was debating this last night I think Martin is not getting into bidding wars, waiting for a price to be agreed on a player, then he will throw his hat into the ring.My wishlist would be Defoe/Smith or Huntelaar,Sneijder, wright phillips and Glen Johnson at RB.It looks like Chelsea have shut up shop though.Still over 6 weeks to go.This has been the longest summer, with the ****ist weather in history.UTV

sneijder would be my number 1 target followed by defoe in close second, i think that we have got luke young in the bag and could see him at villa as early as monday (dont know knowing the villa though lol)

Some of the suggestions as to proposed targets are in truth, laughable. We're not mixing with the elite yet. We were there once, we allowed it to slip away. Its going to be a long haul back, taking it step by step. The big name lads aren't going to rush towards Villa Park, we need to build up the brand name again and become a major draw.

i would love us to sign sneijder, a bit of class never goes amiss. I still think that Craig Gordon is an achievable target and i also believe that Dafoe may end up in a Villa shirt. It depends upon his ambition though. He spent most of last season on the bench before spurs went mad and coughed up all that cash for Bent. If he thinks that his chances of first team football have now improved then hes as daft as he looks. I know Spurs will be telling him that they will use him more because of their european commitments but he must know that he is a long way down the pecking order. He will look even dafter if Spurs get knocked out of europe early. So if he really wants regular first team games then Villa is the place. If he's content to get a weekly dose of splinters up the bum then maybe we would be better off without him.
return of godzvilla

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